The Nobel Prize in Economics awarded. The winners are Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt have been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Economics, the Nobel Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Monday. They were honored for their research on sustainable growth.

Joel Mokyr from Northwestern University in the US was awarded for “identifying the initial requirements for achieving sustainable growth through technological progress.”

Philippe Aghion from the College de France and the London School of Economics and Political Science and Peter Howitt from Brown University in the USA were awarded for their “theory of sustainable growth through the process of creative destruction”.

BREAKING NEWS
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2025 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt “for having explained innovation-driven economic growth” with one half to Mokyr… pic.twitter.com/ZRKq0Nz4g7

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 13, 2025

The Nobel Prize in Economics is actually called the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel. It is the only prize awarded that was not included in Alfred Nobel's will and was founded in 1968 by the Central Bank of Sweden on the occasion of its 300th anniversary. The Award Committee agreed to this initiative and since 1969 this distinction has been systematically awarded.

The establishment of the Nobel Prize in Economics as a field not mentioned in the founder's will was highly controversial. Ultimately, the Nobel Foundation decided that this would be the only exception and there would be no further Nobel Prizes for additional sciences. In Sweden, it is believed that the Nobel Foundation made a mistake by agreeing to the award in an additional category. Alfred Nobel, even though he made a fortune from his inventions, was more interested in social issues than economics.

The Nobel Prize currently amounts to 11 million crowns (approx. EUR 1 million), it also includes a gold medal and a calligraphed diploma. (PAP)

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